“Is that all right with you?” Henrietta asked Susannah.
“Absolutely. Thank you, Mrs. Pepperfield, for offering to do that for us.”
Constance smiled. “Leave it to me and I’ll take care of everything.”
“Good.” Henrietta smiled. “Since the weather has been so warm, we’ll plan to bring a basket and blanket and make an afternoon of it.”
Constance replied to Henrietta’s comment, but Susannah didn’t hear what she said. Susannah was watching the Duke of Blakewell walk up beside Henrietta. He put his arm protectively around her waist, pulling her close to his side, all the while keeping his gaze on Susannah. Even though Susannah knew the two were newlyweds and subject to be somewhat more affectionate in public than would ordinarily be acceptable, she had the feeling the duke was sending her a message. She sensed he wanted her to know that Henrietta was off-limits to her.
“Good evening, Susannah, Constance. I see you are enjoying the company of my lovely wife this evening.”
“Good evening, Blake,” Susannah managed to say without a hint of the reservation she was feeling inside.
“You see her enough as it is, Blake,” Constance remarked. “Though she loves you dearly, she does enjoy being unattached from your hip once in a while and spending time with her friends.”
“You never change, Constance.”
“I don’t ever intend to,” she quipped.
Somehow, Susannah knew instantly that Constance and Blake had a longstanding respectful relationship with each other, and another pang of envy hit her. What was wrong with her? She knew that Race’s cousins had been wary of her from the moment they met her. But then what should she expect? Morgan and Blake knew she had come to London for no other purpose than to stake a claim on their grandmother’s pearls.
And why should she feel such envy? She hadn’t come to London to make friends or even to attend glamorous parties given in the finest homes in Mayfair. And she certainly hadn’t come for the depth of passion she had experienced with the marquis. The necklace was the reason she came to London.
“It appears that suddenly you aren’t wasting any time getting to know as many people as possible, Duchess,” Blake said, looking directly at her.
By the stern expression on his face and the arrogant tilt of his chin, Susannah decided the duke was letting her know that even if his wife wasn’t aware the pearls had been stolen last night, he was, and that she might well be the nimble-fingered thief.
“One can never be acquainted with too many people, don’t you think, Your Grace?” Susannah spoke to Blake as easily as if she had the same relationship with him as Constance.
“That depends,” he said with what could only be called a half grin on his lips. “I’ve found that some people are not worth knowing.”
Her gaze stayed on his, and she smiled easily, confidently at him. “True, but then I’m sure you have also found that there are some people who are worth everything in the world, are they not?”
He nodded once to let her know that she had hit her mark.
“There you are, Duchess, Duchess, Duke, and Constance,” Sir Randolph said as he walked up with a short, very thin man by his side.
With all the ease of a man who knew his way around the most complicated of formal introductions, Sir Randolph managed to do what Susannah had asked of him. She was standing face-to-face with Mr. Harold Winston, the man who could have stolen her grandmother’s pearls from Race.
His eyes were small and such a light shade of blue they were almost eerie. His nose was slightly pointed and turned up. His lips were completely surrounded by a short beard that ended in a point, though his cheeks were clean-shaven. Within moments of the introductions being completed, Henrietta, the duke, and Mrs. Pepperfield excused themselves and melded into the crowd.
Just looking at Mr. Winston, Susannah could easily believe he had stolen the pearls. The man hadn’t been able to tear his gaze away from the emerald around her throat for more than a second or two since he had walked up.
After a few moments of polite conversation, Sir Randolph said, “Duchess, would you excuse me? I forgot there was something I needed to ask the duke.”
She smiled at Sir Randolph and was pleased to see that the swelling in his hands had subsided. “Of course.”
“Perhaps you’ll save a dance for me later?” he said with a wink.
“Most certainly, Sir Randolph.”
He spoke to Mr. Winston, and then left.
“Your Grace,” Mr. Winston said the moment Sir Randolph’s back was turned, “forgive me for staring, but the emerald you are wearing tonight may well be the finest and largest I’ve seen in a private collection.”
His eyes sparkled with eagerness to know about the stone. She smiled graciously at him as her hand crept up her chest to fondle the stone at the base of her neck. With her dress cut as low as it was, most men wouldn’t even notice she had on a necklace.
“How nice of you to recognize its significance.”
